Unanticipated recovery from a status epilepticus after administration of levetiracetam

摘要

Levetiracetam is registered for the adjuvant treatment of epilepsy. However, there is more and more evidence that levetiracetam is also effective in the treatment of generalized epilepsy. Refractory status epilepticus (RSE) is defined as status epilepticus that fails to respond to first- and second-line therapy.We here present a 20-year old woman with a history of M. Hodgkin stage IVB. She was successfully treated with 8 BEACOPP-escalated courses. Hereafter she was in complete remission. Approximately 4 weeks later she was admitted to our hospital with pain in her back. She had severe hypotension and bradycardy. Hereafter, she needed rescussitation during eight minutes and she still had severe oxygenation problems. She was in a status epilepticus which was unresponsive to several combinations of the following drugs: pheny-toin, propofol, pentobarbital, valproic acid, midazolam, and topiramate.